The Opelika-Auburn News reports Valley police say in a statement that 43-year-old Heather Lea Christenson told investigators on Tuesday that she killed 79-year-old Francis Jane McDonald. Christenson told police McDonald was her mother and that they lived together at the home where McDonald died.

Police say investigators began interviewing Christenson after suspecting McDonald was a homicide victim. Investigators have not immediately determined the cause of McDonald's death. They said an autopsy would be done at the state Forensics lab in Montgomery on Wednesday.

Christenson was taken to the Chambers County Detention Facility. It is unclear if she has a lawyer.